James Brown Posted May 20, 2005 Share Posted May 20, 2005 Most influential DOP on certain films - in no particular order Chris Doyle - In the mood for love/fallen angels Ellen Kuras - Eternal Sunshine on a spotless mind John Toll - Thin Red Line Conrad Hall - Road to Perdition / American Beauty Roger Deakins - Kundun Peter Pau - Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon Nestor Almendros- Days of Heaven Pawel Edelman- The Pianist There is too many to try and put into a logical list without going to your DVD collection. But at the moment Chris Doyle has done so much for me and is at the top for a reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boone Hudgins Posted May 20, 2005 Share Posted May 20, 2005 Deakins prefers spherical lenses, but not particularly Zeiss -- for the past few years, he's been a big fan of the Cooke S4's. I believe he's used Zeiss lenses before, but didn't like the flare they made at low stops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidSloan Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 Oh man, this is such a great and educational thread. Thank you Tim, and David! A few of my all time are: Willis, Almendros, Nykvist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ram Shani Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 hi it's very hard to say but right now i fill Im moving between to cinematographers chris doyle- 16mm short i just shot and harri savides - commercials and music videos his new music video for coldplay one big WOW!!!!!! i think thay are ginuse in creating cinematic world. ram Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Rosenbloom Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 I had the pleasure of working a few days on one of Micheal Ballhaus's shoots. Everyone knows, Ballhaus doesn't "care" about lighting, but I think anyone who thinks they are ever going to command a lighting crew should observe this guy in action. You think you need an 8x8 book light for your key? How 'bout a 2k zip, at 45 degrees to the actor? You think you need to move that huge soft source a little to the left, no, a little to the right, no add a maxi and tape a kino tube to the diffusion??? How 'bout a 2k zip, 45 degrees to the actor? Forest of grip stands? How 'bout, a lenser, maybe. Ballhaus has no ego about lighting, no need to prove his genuis by re-inventing motion picture lighting, or showing how complex he can make a setup. Key, fill, back light, and something for the background. He keeps it simple, and I try to take that with me every time I get behind a camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member John Pytlak RIP Posted June 17, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted June 17, 2005 Always some nice insights in the Kodak On-Film Interviews with filmmakers: http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/newslett...d=0.1.4.9&lc=en http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/newsletters/index.jhtml Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidSloan Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 Savides! How can I forget! To young DPs, my age, he's like the second coming. Pretty much all the young cats I know salivate at this man's work. I first noticed Savides's work watching The yards, and Gerry, after that I pretty much tried to get my hands on anything he was involved in. It's safe to say he's the new Gordon Willis. No one in America is doing what he and GVS are doing. Not even close. I have a friend who was getting mentored by him. Needless to say, I was exploding with envy. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendan McCauley Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 (edited) For me its: Michael Ballhaus - loved his work with fassbinder, but his best work is on scorcese's color of money. Carlo DiPalma - his colors are just so good - antoniono's blow-up looks great, but then I can't even name all the Woody Allen films that he did brilliant work on. My favorite is probably Husbands and Wives. Sven Nykvist - I think his work on Scenes From A Marriage was real good. But I also love his work on Crimes and Misdemeanors. Raoul Coutard - liked his work with godard, but truffaut used his talents so much better - Jules and Jim is excellent. I don't know. Edited June 20, 2005 by Brendan McCauley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidSloan Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 (edited) I have to add that whatever Dion Bebe did on In The Cut, completely blew me away. And how can I forget Godard's brilliant daughter, Agnes. Beau Travial was superb. Edited June 20, 2005 by DavidSloan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Wells Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 And how can I forget Godard's brilliant daughter, Agnes. Beau Travial was superb. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> "Beau Travail" is great but I don't think Agnes Godard is any relation to JLG. (there's a fictional familial relation with the Micheal Subor character being a continuation of the one he played in "Le Petit Soldat") -Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Max Jacoby Posted June 20, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted June 20, 2005 Agnes Godard is definitely not related to Jean-Luc Godard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidSloan Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 (edited) That's very wierd. I always thought she was his daughter for some odd reason, but now that I think of it I have no clue where that idea came from. Thanks for correcting me. Related or not, both JLG and AG are brilliant! :) Edited June 21, 2005 by DavidSloan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oli Soravia Posted September 4, 2005 Share Posted September 4, 2005 I was just curious, especially if you are an advanced member or a DP. Storaro, Khondji, Lubezki, Spinotti, delli Colli, Willis... Do you try to re-create any of their work? I always try to find the best visualization for a given story. I don`t want to recreate some others work. But there are these influences deep in your soul, which you can`t deny :-). However, I`m far away from having the personal skills and technical budgets of those guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Mullen ASC Posted September 4, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted September 4, 2005 Since lighting is connected to story, location, actors & their blocking, it's very hard to simply recreate someone else's lighting anyway, but certainly I have been influenced by the way others approach lighting scenes in general. I mean, if you think how a more naturalistic DP like Deakins or Watkin would light a scene, making it look natural, are you therefore mimicking them or mimicking nature? Does it matter? How can one "own" the idea of lighting through a window anyway? Even Vermeer wasn't the first to think that one up. Worrying about being original or being unoriginal is sort of a waste of time; if you focus on the STORY, the style will grow out of that more organically, whether or not it ends up being similar to someone else's style. I mean, I don't even know if I've ever had an original thought! My knowledge of film history, and art, pretty much means I recognize the origins of everything in what I do. Afterall, there's top light, backlight, side light, flat light, warm light, cold light, etc. -- you know what I mean? Finding a "new" light is sort of a waste of time -- just find the "right" light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oli Soravia Posted September 4, 2005 Share Posted September 4, 2005 ...I mean, I don't even know if I've ever had an original thought... I really wished my english was a bit better to express myself more straight to the right point. I like this kind of philosophical thoughts. Everyone is a "victim" of beeing formed by influence of everything in this world. Although there are all the lighting styles, technical knowledges, etc. we all know, I think there remains this little ammount of difference, which distinguishes certain DP`s from others. It`s equal to musicians, there are millions who know how to play instruments in a perfect way, but there are few who will keep in mind like the Beatles, Beethoven or Elvis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Mullen ASC Posted September 5, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted September 5, 2005 The issue is whether one should consciously develop an "original" style or whether one should just let that evolve naturally by simply following one's own instincts without over-intellectualizing the creative process. Even when we choose to mimic or be inspired by some prior art, we are employing our sense of taste and editorial skill, because we are also rejecting any number of approaches as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oli Soravia Posted September 5, 2005 Share Posted September 5, 2005 Maybe it`s only a question of individual talent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest filmmakermilan Posted September 6, 2005 Share Posted September 6, 2005 As of right now, the most influencial are Janusz Kaminksi and Phillipe Roussellot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Glenn Hanns Posted September 6, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted September 6, 2005 I agree with David 100% on that one. I've been thinking alot lately about approaches DP have to the subject matter. Alot of DP's create images indiscriminately without grounding the look of the image in the subject matter. I think willis said once "Its not one particular thing you do that makes it work..its what works for the subject". I guess we're all influenced by other DP's images whether we want to or not to some extent. Im more interested in the approaches that people take to lighting situations and then I take this and change it to suit the story and the way I like to work. For me the story is the thread we hang our images on. Favorite DPs: Willis Deschanel Hall Toll Zigmond Beebe- Have to throw in some patriotism. Favorite movie: Manhattan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Chris Keth Posted September 7, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted September 7, 2005 That's like asking a consummate music fan to identify their favorite musician...cruel! :P I certainly have been influenced by so many things even I don't know all of them, but a few of the most knowingly influencial to me are: Conrad Hall Greg Toland Bruno Delbonnel and our own David Mullen Everyone I list, I include because they have done some great work I look up to very much. I unflinchingly list Mr. Mullen not only because of his outstanding and beautiful work, but also because of his approachability (if I ever had the opportunity to speak to him face-to-face) and his love on these forums of freely imparting his knowledge and experience for the rest of us to learn from. I wish I got the chance more often to speak in depth to working directors of photography. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Greg Gross Posted September 7, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted September 7, 2005 Is there anyone who could not be a big fan of Cooke S4's? Raoul Coutard Conrad Hall John Cassavetes Darius Khondji David Mullen Greg Gross Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Lekovic Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 Two also worth mentioning: Jordan Cronenweth :: Blade Runner Marcello Gatti :: Battle of Algeres Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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